No. 13 Saint Mary's smashes San Francisco

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

Senior center Jock Landale dominated with 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 13 Saint Mary’s to an easy 79-43 victory over San Francisco on Thursday in West Coast Conference play at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, Calif.

Sophomore guard Tanner Krebs scored 12 points on four 3-point baskets for the Gaels, who extended their school record to 17 consecutive victories. Junior forward Evan Fitzner added 10 points and nine rebounds, and senior point guard Emmett Naar notched eight assists as Saint Mary’s (22-2, 11-0 WCC) remained one game ahead of Gonzaga in the WCC race.

Landale made 11 of 17 field-goal attempts while recording his 15th double-double of the season as the Gaels defeated San Francisco for the eighth straight time and 24th time in the past 25 meetings.

Sophomore guard Jordan Ratinho scored eight points for the Dons (12-12, 4-7), who have dropped five of their past seven games. San Francisco shot 31.6 percent from the field, including 6 of 24 from 3-point range, and made 1 of 4 free-throw attempts while scoring its fewest points of the campaign.

Saint Mary’s, which shot 50.8 percent from the field, outrebounded the Dons 44-29.

Saint Mary’s held a 17-point halftime lead before steamrolling the Dons over a nearly 10-minute stretch of the second half.

San Francisco missed 14 consecutive shots and went 9:52 between points while the Gaels rolled off 19 in a row.

Landale scored the first nine points in the run to stretch Saint Mary’s lead to 58-30. The Gaels tacked on 10 more in a row with a layup by junior center Jordan Hunter increasing the advantage to 38 points with 5:36 to play.

Freshman guard Souley Boum finally halted the lengthy San Francisco stretch of futility by knocking down a 3-pointer with 5:17 remaining.

Krebs drained his four 3-pointers in the first half as Saint Mary’s led 38-21 at the break.

The Dons trailed by just three points 6 1/2 minutes into the contest before the Gaels rattled off 11 straight. Fitzner capped the surge with a 3-pointer to give Saint Mary’s a 26-12 edge with 8:03 left in the half.

Krebs and Fitzner connected on back-to-back 3-pointers later in the stanza to make it 36-19 with 1:26 to play.